Flynn Leads Scots Past Beloit on Saturday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill (01/11/2025) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team rallied from 10 points down and held on to win 75-69 at Beloit College (6-8, 2-4) Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Scots (10-4, 4-1) secured the season sweep of the Buccaneers and are one of two teams in the MWC with only one loss on the season.

Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) got the scoring started with a layup and Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer for a 5-0 Monmouth lead. Flynn scored again before Beloit went on a 7-0 run to lead 9-7. Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) tied the game with a jumper and Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) made a pair of free throws. Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) put the Scots up 13-11 and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) added a bucket. Maring scored again and Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) gave the Scots a 19-15 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.

Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) became the eighth player to score in the half as his layup gave the Scots a 21-15 advantage. Beloit tied the game before Brown scored with 7:36 left in the half. The Scots didn't score for the next five minutes and Beloit took a 10-point lead at 33-23 before Flynn ended the drought. Flynn scored the next four points for a personal 6-0 run and Thomas added two free throws. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) made it an 11-0 Monmouth run with a 3-pointer for a 34-33 lead. Beloit answered with a bucket to lead 35-34 at the break.

After Beloit started the second half with a bucket, Taylor and Hill scored to put the Scots up 39-37. Taylor hit a 3-pointer and after Beloit scored four, Hill made a jumper for a 44-43 lead. Flynn had a pair of layups and Taylor converted a 3-point play for a 51-47 lead. Beloit tied the game and Hill made two free throws before Huber scored again. Maring knocked down two free throws and McNally drilled a 3-pointer for a 60-53 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Thomas made a layup for a 10-point lead and neither team scored for the next three minutes. Hill converted a 3-point play with 5:47 to play and McNally hit another 3-pointer for a 69-55 advantage. Beloit cut the lead to nine with a 5-0 run before Flynn made a free throw with 1:14 to play. Beloit scored four in a row as Monmouth missed four straight free throws. The Bucs hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to cut the Scots lead to 70-67. Monmouth turned the ball over but Beloit missed both free throws with 25 seconds left. Hill was fouled and made both free throws for a 72-67 lead but Beloit scored immediately. Flynn split free throws and Brown blocked the Beloit layup attempt. Taylor finished the game with two free throws in the final five seconds for the 75-69 final.

Flynn led the Scots with 18 points while Hill added 14 and Taylor scored 12. Flynn also led the Scots with seven rebounds while Brown and Thomas both grabbed six. Taylor led the Scots with four steals and Brown blocked two shots

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Flynn scored a season-high 18 points, his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season ... Hill has been in double figures 11 times this season and Taylor has scored at least 10 points six times ... The Scots win the rebound battle 41-26 ... Taylor has scored at least eight points in all six of his career games against Beloit for an average of 13.5 ppg ... Taylor was 3-for-4 at the line and he is is 47-for-54 (.870) at the free throw line this season, 35th in all of D3 and first in the MWC ... Monmouth was 20-for-26 at the line in the game but five of the misses game in the final two minutes ... With 112 rebounds at an 8.0 per game average, Brown leads the MWC in rebounding ... Monmouth won the first matchup of the season 69-60 at home on Dec. 8 as Brown scored 18 points and Hill added 17 ... The all-time series is tied 67-67 ... Monmouth is 8-2 in the last 10 and 16-10 under coach Skrivseth ... Last year the visiting team won both games ... Monmouth has won three straight in Beloit and four of the last five ... The Scots stay on the road Tuesday with a game at Cornell after the 5:30 p.m. women's game ... The next home Saturday, Jan 18 against Ripon.